As he places a heavy boulder on top of the rocks that are stacked, all the rocks begin shifting under the added weight. Suddenly, there is this fluid dance where all the rocks are shifting, rolling, moving, and adjusting. It looks very snake like as it is fluid in motion. Needham uses his knees, his body, his shoulders and chin to settle the rocks down as he is listening intently for that still point of perfect balance. All at once, all motion stops, the rocks are still, perfectly, sacredly, silently motionless, and still. It is a deafening moment of silence.

Actually, they rarely fall while I am in the process of making them. Exceptions being the rule, there have been specific pieces which have required a long period of focus, sometimes hours. The truth is that I focus on 'not allowing them to fall' resorting to begging the stones when necessary. Given my preferred size of stone, large or larger, I just couldn't continue if they fell.

Having said that all of my pieces fall at some point, many waiting years for that brief moment of freedom before settling into the dirt.